Reader Letter | Preventing child abuse through home visitation program

8:28 PM,
Apr. 1, 2013

Tom Wine

Written by

TOM WINE

Last week, the Kentucky legislature, with strong bipartisan support, passed a bill that will impact the lives of thousands of children and families in trouble throughout the commonwealth. While the Health Access Nurturing Development Services (HANDS) program contained in Senate Bill 74 did not generate the same degree of discussion as several other pieces of legislation, its importance should not be overlooked.

In Kentucky, there were about 17,000 cases of child abuse and neglect in 2011. Approximately 38 percent of those victims were children under the age of four. This number, which ...